Spec me a system £800 to spend

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Euge

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Spec me a system £800 to spend UPDATE

I was going to buy prebuilt from OCUK, but Buchanan convinced me to build my own he came up with the following specs. This is not a gaming rig, it will be used for photo editing. Big file Canon 5Dmk2 and Canon 1Dmk4. RAW shooting Batch processing and HDR from Photomatix.

Case: Nothing flash, but must have room for at least 4 HDD. Good cooling All fans to be included in price

CPU:Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor

CPU Cooling: Open to suggestions, but something that will keep the CPU low on temps

RAM: At least 8Gig of Corsair XMS DDR3 1600 MHz (as recommended by Buchanan) 16 Gig if possible. Or any RAM you might suggest

Power Supply: I reckon something around 650W

OS: Win7 Home premium

Graphics Card: As this is for photo edting it doesn't have to be top end. BUT I don't want it to be a bottleneck on the system

SSD: I think I should be able to include a Crucial M 128 in my budget

HDD: Something between 1 and 2 TB

Motherboard: I haven't a clue !!!!!!!!!!! But reading on here I see a lot of people suggesting I68 (I think this means it will be processor upgradeable)

Optical Drive: Open to suggestions. It doesen't have to be Bluray. But I would like it to include burning software

Misc: Arctic Silver or equivelant, Extra fans if you think I need them.

Overclocking is NOT essential as I know running 8 or 16Gig of RAM will cause problems and possibly not allow me to OC anyway.

Roll on the shopping list.



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For your budget, and the SSD requirement, I would just drop the overclocking till later. Saves you a useful £30.

For the GPU, if you are not doing any gaming, you can go pretty low, even with no dedicated GPU if you go for a Z68 motherboard with video outputs.

A start...


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £134.99
1 x Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £131.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £47.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £53.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £47.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal S19LBK DVD Rewriter including Labelflash - Retail £19.99
1 x BitFenix Spectre Plain BLACK 120mm Fan £5.99
Total : £744.30 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
thanks olivier. Are you going with stock cooling on CPU? Will check out your specs. any idea why I can't get my image to appear in my above post?
 
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saved a bit of money on oliviers build. i assume the £20 DVD drive is needed for something it comes with because you could save £3 by going with the samsung lightscribe one

does your editing software make use of hyperthreading? if it does i'd drop back to 8GB RAM and get an i7 2600k


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £134.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** LOWEST UK PRICE ** £99.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £47.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £53.99
2 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £47.99 (£95.98)
1 x OcUK H²Flo Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1155/1156/775/AM2/AM3) £36.98
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal S19LBK DVD Rewriter including Labelflash - Retail £19.99
1 x Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1450 RPM - 3 Pin £12.98
Total : £788.76 (includes shipping : £13.75).

only thing im not sure of is the fan
 
Reaper, I mainly use Photoshop CS5. I think the i5 will be ok. I'm not so sure on that H2FLO cooler, looks like a lot of hassle to fit it. Case wise I think I'll either go with the BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Case or the Fractal Design Core 3000 Midi Tower Case
 
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Reaper has done what buch did and spec'd the mobo which doesn't have the same video output as your monitor (he wasnt to know this). £10 more on the revised spec mobo buch suggested makes sense over an adapter.

The closed loop watercoolers aren't really that fiddly to fit. The bonus they give you is that they dont over hang over the RAM slots. Remember we were discussing the corsair vengenance RAM and it's heatspreaders?

If you've settled on the i5 that's cool that's £60ish to juggle around with. Did you still want the dedicated GPU though? I always find these threads interesting to read, I love seeing the different combinations people put together.
 
I still want the dedicted GPU. I checked out the fitting of a closed loop watercooler, it's not that bad. But I'm wondering will it fit in either the BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Case or the Fractal Design Core 3000 Midi Tower Case?
 
It's gonna be a bit of a stretch getting a dedicated GPU with that budget. You can downsize the SSD to 64GB.

The water cooler will fit almost any case, that's one of its advantage. The Core 3000 is a bit cramped iirc. That means less HD space with a decent graphics card.

The Shinobi is more roomy. You can take the basic shinobi, without the 'window' as it's cheaper, you'll need an exhaust fan, which you will need anyway with the H2FLO.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **PRE-ORDER ONLY PRICE** £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** LOWEST UK PRICE ** £99.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £73.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £47.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £53.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £47.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £37.99
1 x OcUK H²Flo Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1155/1156/775/AM2/AM3) £36.98
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal S19LBK DVD Rewriter including Labelflash - Retail £19.99
1 x BitFenix Spectre Plain BLACK 120mm Fan £5.99
Total : £796.27 (includes shipping : £12.50).




YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £134.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** LOWEST UK PRICE ** £99.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £47.99
1 x Asus ATI Radeon HD 6670 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £59.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £53.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £47.99
1 x OcUK H²Flo Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1155/1156/775/AM2/AM3) £36.98
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal S19LBK DVD Rewriter including Labelflash - Retail £19.99
1 x BitFenix Spectre Plain BLACK 120mm Fan £5.99
Total : £810.77 (includes shipping : £13.75).



I would spend a little to get a 460 though, if you want a dedicated GPU. Even dropping the CPU cooler for later if your budget wont allow.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £134.99
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **PRE-ORDER ONLY PRICE** £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** LOWEST UK PRICE ** £99.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £47.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £53.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £47.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £37.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal S19LBK DVD Rewriter including Labelflash - Retail £19.99
1 x Xigmatek 120mm Crystal Green LED Fan £4.99
Total : £819.29 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Cable management is a bit of a pain with that case. It' just a bit of a squeeze budget-wise.
 
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Ideally,
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £134.99
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **PRE-ORDER ONLY PRICE** £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** LOWEST UK PRICE ** £99.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £47.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £53.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £47.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £42.98
1 x OcUK H²Flo Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1155/1156/775/AM2/AM3) £36.98
1 x Samsung SH-S222AB/RSMS 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black/Silver/Biege) - Retail £17.99
Total : £855.77 (includes shipping : £13.75).



£50 over budget. The case is a bit noisy. Fans can be replaced, and it has a case fan controller.

The GPU is on pre-order unfortunately. But it's a good graphics card, not just for games but for CUDA-enabled software. Also the 550ti, it's not as good (about equivalent to a HD6770 / HD5770).

EDIT : I take it back about the Pioneer. Some reports of them crapping out. Let's give Samsungs a try :D
 
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Once again you guys rock, Ollie, you've left me with a lot to ponder on. Your 2nd option looks the best to me. It hits most of the right places. Plus I was out tonight and might be able to get an LG BluRay DVD from my sons mate for a tenner (ESata of course). The only thing that has me worried is that water cooler!!!!!. Water and electronics don't mix. Am I being paranoid?
 
This is what I have so far. Went for the Shinobi Gaming case with window (ordinary one out of stock) Sorted on the BluRay drive. What do you think?

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Looking good!

Just out of curiosity. Why are people recommending the OcUK liquid cooler? Has it been tested and proven to be better than air coolers in the same price bracket? Is it for low noise?
 
Its basically a H60 without the fan. You can go with a Gelid Tranquillo as well. That's a decent cooler, cheaper and well tried. Probably a safer bet tbh. Expect 4.2-4.4GHz overclock, the motherboard isn't an extreme overclocker anyway so no point stressing it.
 
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